Dietary polyacetylenes of the falcarinol type are inhibitors of breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2)

Polyacetylenes of the falcarinol type are present in vegetables such as carrots and parsley. They display interesting bioactivities and hold potential as health-promoting and therapeutic agents. In this study, falcarinol, falcarindiol, falcarindiol 3-acetate and falcarindiol 3,8-diacetate were examined for their modulation on breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2), an efflux transporter important for xenobiotic absorption and disposition, and multidrug resistance in cancer. Falcarinol, falcarindiol, and falcarindiol 3-acetate were extracted from carrots and falcarindiol 3,8-diacetate prepared from falcarindiol. Their modulatory effects on ABCG2 were studied using three methods—mitoxantrone accumulation, vesicular transport, and ATPase assay. The polyacetylenes inhibited mitoxantrone (an ABCG2 substrate) efflux in ABCG2-overexpressing HEK293 cells. The inhibitory effect was confirmed in the vesicular transport assay, in which concentration-dependent inhibition of methotrexate (an ABCG2 substrate) uptake into ABCG2-overexpressing Sf9 membrane vesicles was observed (IC50=19.7–41.7 µM). The polyacetylenes also inhibited baseline and sulfasalazine-stimulated vanadate-sensitive ATPase activities in ABCG2-overexpressing Sf9 membrane vesicles (IC50=19.3–79.3 µM). This is the first report of an inhibitory effect of polyacetylenes on ABCG2. These results indicate a prospective use of polyacetylenes as multidrug resistance reversal agents, a possible role of ABCG2 in the absorption and disposition of polyacetylenes, and potential food-drug interactions between polyacetylene-rich foods and ABCG2 substrate drugs.